Rain leads to low turnout
"Due to continuous rain, no buyers are visiting the plant fair for the last four days. We hope to see a good turn-out when the rain recedes," said Nusrat Jahan Mim, owner of Bagan Bilas Nursery.
More than 70 nursery owners and employees have been waiting for visitors for the last few days at the 15-day tree fair, organised by Chattogram forest division in the port city's busy CRB area. Though the fair began on a good note on July 30, continued rain has led to a poor turnout for the last few days.
Visiting the fair on Monday, this correspondent saw all 100 stalls, displaying various kinds of local and foreign varieties of plants, vacant since morning. While some visitors came to the fair when the rain lessened in the afternoon, the number rounded off to a few as the drizzles continued.
"I did not want to miss out on the opportunity of exploring new species of trees and plants with my children. So, I came to the fair today. My children really enjoy such fairs, but the rain is making regular visits difficult," said Rowshan Ara, a homemaker who visited the fair with her two children.
Rubel Hossain, a salesman of Paharika Nursery, requested the authorities to extend the fair as his sales were very low in the last four days.
"I could not even sell trees worth Tk 200 after the rain started. Eight days have already passed. Hopefully, the authorities will consider the situation and extend the fair," he said.
The fair is organised annually, informed Chattogram North Divisional Forest Officer SM Kaichar.
"We take this initiative to raise awareness on the need of planting more trees and conserving them for the future. Considering the situation, we might extend the fair," he said.
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